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Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle (2025)

Where the lyrics of Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle take you, and where it was really made.

Willie Nelson's 78th solo studio album is a set of eleven Merle Haggard songs, and it includes his last recordings with two long-serving Family Band members.

Key places

Recorded at East Iris, Nashville (2025)

Recording site Nashville — East Iris in Nashville is listed as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at city-centre level, not at a specific studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Pedernales Recording, Spicewood (2025)

Recording site Pedernales Studio — Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood, Texas is listed as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at town-centre level, not at a specific studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle is the 78th solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Willie Nelson.
• Released on November 7, 2025, through Legacy Recordings.
• Produced by Nelson and Mickey Raphael.
• The album contains eleven songs by Nelson's late frequent collaborator Merle Haggard.
• It is a tribute album built entirely on Haggard's material.

Background

• Nelson had recorded four studio duet albums with Haggard.
• The duet albums run from the 1983 album Pancho & Lefty to Haggard's final studio album Django and Jimmie in 2015.
• Pancho & Lefty yielded a #1 hit with its title track.
• This album includes Nelson's last recordings with Bobbie Nelson and Paul English.
• Both Bobbie Nelson and Paul English were long-serving members of Nelson's Family Band.

Recording

• Credits are adapted from Tidal.
• Willie Nelson is credited with vocals, Trigger (guitar), and production.
• Mickey Raphael is credited with production and harmonica.
• Billy English and Paul English are credited with drums and percussion.
• Kevin Smith is credited with electric bass guitar and upright bass.
• Bobbie Nelson is credited with piano.
• Steve Chadie is credited with engineering, Brando Marius with additional engineering, and Charlie Kramsky with engineering assistance.
• Tony Castle is credited with mixing, and Andrew Mendelson with mastering.
• The album's recording locations are listed as East Iris in Nashville, Blackbird in Nashville, and Pedernales Recording in Spicewood, Texas.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas.
• Wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band, Bohemian Polka, as a guitarist at age nine.
• Attended Baylor University for two years before dropping out to pursue music.
• Moved to Nashville in 1960 and joined Ray Price's band as a bassist.

Career

• Songs such as "Crazy" (Patsy Cline), "Funny How Time Slips Away" and "Pretty Paper" became hits for other artists.
• Debut album ...And Then I Wrote was released in 1962; joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1965.
• Helped lead the outlaw country movement after moving to Austin, Texas in 1972.
• Red Headed Stranger (1975) was a critically acclaimed concept album; the single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" became his first number one hit.
• Co-founded Farm Aid in 1985 with Neil Young and John Mellencamp.
• Acted in over 30 films, including The Electric Horseman (1979).
• Received a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for "Ride Me Back Home" (2019).
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Workin' Man received positive reviews from music critics.
• Metacritic assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics.
• The album received a score of 84 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on four reviews.
• The Metacritic score indicates "universal acclaim".
• Mark Deming at AllMusic praised the performances of Nelson and the band.
• Deming singled out the band's "in the moment" approach to the performances.
• That approach includes studio chatter and ad-libs.

Reappraisal

• Deming noted that Nelson chose to interpret Haggard's most familiar songs.
• The album is a tribute: eleven songs by Merle Haggard, Nelson's late frequent collaborator.
• Haggard and Nelson had recorded four studio duet albums together before this project.
• Those duets run from 1983's Pancho & Lefty, which yielded a #1 hit with its title track, to Django and Jimmie in 2015.
• The album also includes Nelson's last recordings with Bobbie Nelson and Paul English.

Records

• Released on November 7, 2025, through Legacy Recordings.
• It is Nelson's 78th solo studio album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• This album includes Nelson's last recordings with Bobbie Nelson and Paul English, both long-serving members of his Family Band.
• Haggard's final studio album, Django and Jimmie (2015), was one of the four studio duet albums he recorded with Nelson.
• Billy English and Paul English are both credited on drums and percussion.
• The album's recording locations are East Iris in Nashville and Pedernales Recording in Spicewood, Texas.
• Workin' Man is Nelson's 78th solo studio album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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